Just about everyone in the world has heard of Audrey
Hepburn. She is one of Little Wings Factory’s favourite style icons, as you can
probably tell from the wide range of Audrey
Hepburn style dresses that we stock; and she has also captured the
heart of many fashion and film lovers all the world over for many years. But,
do you know Hepburn as well as we do? Let’s find out – here are ten things we
think you don’t know about Audrey Hepburn:

She Popularised the Audrey
Black Dress

In 2010, LOVEFILM did a customer survey which revealed that people
thought that the LBD that Audrey wore in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ was the best
dress ever worn by a woman in a film. To this day, this little black dress
continues to be timelessly chic, especially when accessorised with a string of
pearls and a classic up-do hair style. You can update the look with a modern
twist with our Lindy Bop ‘Audrey’ Black Tartan Dress:

Today, lots of female celebrities
rely on huge amounts of bling jewellery and flashing lots of flesh in skimpy
outfits to get the attention of the press, but not our Audrey! She never went
for the bombshell tactics that some of her other Hollywood contemporaries did,
but instead stayed true to her simple signature style of bold block colour,
strong clean lines and unusual statement pieces.

She Was
Insecure Like the Rest of Us

Audrey never
thought she was beautiful, bemoaning the size of her nose and her feet
throughout her life. She looked different to the other Hollywood stars at the
time who were more curvaceous, and she received some negative press because of
this at the time. Although, despite these insecurities, she still managed to
capture our hearts and become the treasured style icon she is today.

She Was Very Self-Disciplined

She started
off life as a dancer, and continued this discipline throughout her career –
keeping her not only slim, but supple as well. All the better to show off her Audrey Dress styles!

Audrey moved
back to England in 1948 to study as a Ballet Dancer at the prestigious Ballet
Rambert, and paid her own way there by working as a model in her spare time.
She had great talent, but her dreams of becoming a prima ballerina were crushed
when she was told that her height and her weakened constitution (the result of
childhood malnutrition) prevented her from doing so. Despite this upset, Audrey
carried on and turned to acting for a career rather than dancing.

She Started
Out as a Chorus Girl

As we said
before, to support herself through ballet school, Audrey took on a variety of
jobs including working as a chorus girl in the West End, where she was spotted
by a casting director. She then signed up to become a freelance actress and can
be seen in various minor roles in the following films in 1951 – ‘One Wild Oat’,
‘Laughter in Paradise’, ‘Young Wives Tale, and ‘The Lavender Hill Mob.’ She
then got her first starring role, as a ballerina, in ‘Secret People’ in 1952.

Her Accent Was
a Little Eclectic

Born in
Holland, but raised in London, Audrey’s accent was an eclectic mix of Dutch and
British with drawn out vowels and unusual emphasis – which made it very hard to
imitate!

She is a
Timeless Style Icon

Nearly 27
years after her last film, and 23 years after her death, Audrey Hepburn style dresses are as popular today as they were in
her heyday. Her style still influences fashion today, and we think it will for
many years to come.

For more
information on our Audrey Hepburn Style Dresses, or any of our other vintage
style dresses and homeware items, please email us at care@littlewingsfactory.com or
fill in the contact form on our website.